1775: Paul Revere made his famous midnight ride from Charlestown to Lexington, accompanied by William Dawes, to warn Massachusetts patriots of the arrival of British troops at the outbreak of the War of American Independence.

1874: Remains of missionary and explorer David Livingstone were interred in Westminster Abbey.

1906: San Francisco earthquake shattered the city before dawn, killing between 500 and 700 people, destroying 28,000 buildings and causing $500million worth of damage, with more than 50 fires raging.

1942: American bombers led by Lieutenant-General James Doolittle attacked Tokyo and other Japanese cities.

1946: International Court of Justice was opened at The Hague.

1946: League of Nations was dissolved and its assets passed to the United Nations.

1949: The first Bob-a-Job Week was inaugurated by the Scout Movement in Britain.

1949: The Republic of Ireland was proclaimed, severing ties with Britain by leaving the Commonwealth.

1968: A United States oil company bought London Bridge, dismantled it and later re-erected it in Arizona.

1976: About 40,000 Israelis marched into occupied West Bank area of Jordan, demanding that Israel annex the territory.

1978: America and Panama agreed that control of the Panama Canal would revert to Panama by the year 2000.

1985: Postal workers went on strike, abandoning 20 million items of undelivered mail.

1986: Guinness won takeover battle for Distillers.

1987: Journalist John McCarthy was kidnapped in Beirut. He spent more than five years in captivity.

1990: Government announced plans for a privately-funded toll road in Scotland linking the M74 with the M8.

1992: Traverse Theatre’s final performance in its Grassmarket premises in Edinburgh, took place 25 years after it was opened by Jenny Lee, Britain’s first minister of the arts.

1993: England won the World Rugby Sevens at Murrayfield.

1996: More than 100 refugees died when Israel shelled a United Nations peace-keeping base in Lebanon.

2005: MG Rover, Britain’s last major car-maker, collapsed with the loss of 6,200 jobs.

2007: A series of bombings, two of them being suicides, exploded in Baghdad, killing 198 and injuring 251.

2011: It was announced that the Queen’s official residence in Scotland, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, was to be utilised to host corporate events.